A Less Hectic Time

When our children were little, it didn’t take much to make them happy. A ball and a small wading pool could provide hours of entertainment, and back then, they usually cost less than $10, making them easy on any budget. Our girls loved splashing around in a wading pool on hot summer days while I relaxed in my chaise lounge with a good book. Those were the wonderful, lazy days of summer. The memories take me back to an easier time, less hectic and more relaxed. My girls were little and play dates were not a thing at the time. We lived in the country and didn’t make trips to town every day. I was a stay-at-home mom then, so often it was just the girls and me at home during the day.

Back then, any video games that existed were pricey and basic. We got one when they were a bit older, but unlike kids today who seem to be born with technology at their fingertips, the girls relied on their imaginations for their play. I’m not saying technology is bad, in fact, I’m a big tech fan myself, but it just wasn’t as easy to access in those days. Nobody really had those kinds of games and what was out the was in the old DOS system. The kids didn’t play with electronic toys. My girls, like kids today, loved playing in boxes, imagining them as forts or other fun things. They had Cabbage Patch dolls and enjoyed playing house. With their friends, they would have tea parties and dress up. They also loved spending time in the sandbox, creating little cities or building sandcastles.

The technology we have today is incredible. You can search the internet for any information you can imagine. Anything you want to know can be found online. Of course there is a lot on misinformation too, but that is another story. Kids’ games are becoming increasingly graphic, and murder and crime hardly faze them anymore because they’ve seen it all in a game. Sometimes we struggle to relate to a tragic event because it resembles the fantasy worlds we’ve watched on television. I often wonder if criminals and terrorists get some of their ideas directly from TV and video games. I’m not saying technology is bad, just that it sometimes robs our kids of a precious commodity—imagination.